The most common element surviving ALL Eating Disorders
is the inherent presence of a low self esteem.

COMPULSIVE OVEREATING

The Recovery Group is dedicated to serving compulsive eaters. Compulsive
Eating is not a disease that one can take a pill for and cure. It is not
something you can go on a diet, lose weight and forevermore be okay. Diets
actually do great damage to a compulsive eater. Compulsive eating is
incurable and serious. If you are a compulsive eater, please always remember
IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. You did not cause this and you will not be able to
cure it. Nevertheless, by arming yourself with knowledge about the disease
and by enlightening yourself, you will be able to live a life that is happy,
joyous and free and one happier, healthier and more blessed than you ever
dreamed possible.

WHAT IS A COMPULSIVE EATER

Victims of Compulsive Eating have what is characterized as an "addiction" to
food, using food and eating as a way to hide from their emotions, to fill a
void they feel inside, and to cope with daily stresses and problems in their
lives.

Compulsive eaters are people whose hands or minds move toward food when they
are not at all hungry. Compulsive eating has nothing to do with the size of
your body. Compulsive eaters come in all shapes and sizes. Compulsive eating
has to do with how many hours you spend preoccupied with thoughts about what
you are eating and what you look like. The Overcoming Overeating approach
does not address eating disorders; it addresses dieting disorders, the
casualties of the diet industry.

People suffering with Compulsive Eating tend to be overweight, are usually
aware that their eating habits are abnormal, but find little comfort because
of society's tendency to stereotype the "overweight" individual. Words like,
"just go on a diet" are as emotionally devastating to a person suffering
Compulsive Overeating as "just eat" can be to a person suffering Anorexia. A
person suffering as a Compulsive Overeater is at health risk for a heart
attack, high blood-pressure and cholesterol, kidney disease and/or failure,
arthritis and bone deterioration, and stroke.

Men and Women who are Compulsive Overeaters will sometimes hide behind their
physical appearance, using it as a blockade against society (common in
victims of sexual abuse). They feel guilty for not being "good enough," shame
for being overweight, and generally have a very low self-esteem... they use
food and eating to cope with these feelings, which only leads into the cycle
of feeling them ten-fold and trying to find a way to cope again. With a low
self esteem and often constant need for love and validation he/she will turn
to obsessive episodes of binging and eating as a way to forget the pain and
the desire for affection.

BINGE EATING DISORDER

Men and Women living with Binge Eating Disorder suffer a combination of
symptoms similar to those of Compulsive Overeaters and Bulimia. The victim
periodically goes on large binges, consuming an unusually large quantity of
food in a short period of time (less than 2 hours) uncontrollably, eating
until they are uncomfortably full. The weight of each victim is usually
characterized as above average or overweight, and victims tend to have a more
difficult time losing weight and maintaining average healthy weights. Unlike
Bulimia, victims do not purge following a Binge episode.

Reasons for Binge Eating can be similar to those of Compulsive Overeating;
Using Binges as a way to hide from their emotions, to fill a void they feel
inside, and to cope with daily stresses and problems in their lives. Binging
can be used as a way to keep people away, to subconsciously maintain an
overweight appearance to cator to society's sad stigma "if I'm fat, no one
will like me," as each victim may feel undeserving of love. As with Bulimia,
Binging can also be used as self-punishment for doing "bad" things, or for
feeling badly about themselves.

A person suffering with Binge Eating Disorder is at health risk for a heart
attack, high blood-pressure and cholesterol, kidney disease and/or failure,
arthritis and bone deterioration, and stroke.

DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA

The following is considered the "text book" definition of Binge-Eating
Disorder (BED) to assist doctors in making a clinical diagnosis... it is in
no way representative of what a victim feels or experiences in living with
the illness. It is important to note that you can still suffer from BED even
if one of the below signs is not present. In other words, if you think you
have BED, it's dangerous to read the diagnostic criteria and think "I don't
have one of the symptoms, so I must not have it".

1. Recurrent episodes of binge eating.

An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following:

A. Eating, in a discrete period of time (eg, within any 2-hour period), an
amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a
similar period of time under similar circumstances;

B. A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (eg, a feeling
that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).

2. The binge eating episodes are associated with at least three of the
following:

A. Eating much more rapidly than normal
B. Eating until feeling uncomfortably full
C. Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry
D. Eating alone because of being embarrassed by how much one is eating
E. Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or feeling very guilty after
overeating
F. Marked distress regarding binge eating.
G. The binge eating occurs, on average, at least 2 days a week for 6 months.
H. The binge eating is not associated with the regular use of inappropriate
compensatory behaviors (eg, purging, fasting, excessive exercise) and does
not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa or bulimia
nervosa.

3. Eating and/or Sleeping Problems

It is important to be aware that throughout life, during positive and
negative stress periods, people may experience eating and/or sleep pattern
problems. If either or both of these conditions persist or interfere with
daily life, then it is important to identify the underlying cause(s) of the
problem. Problems with Eating and Sleeping are defined as usually over/under
eating or too much or too little sleep. During the past decade, we have
become aware of the detrimental effects of Anorexia, Bulimia and Compulsive
Overeating and while these problems may warrant medical attention, the
underlying causes need to be identified and appropriate coping skills
developed.

WHAT IS THE TREATMENT FOR AN EATING DISORDER

For most people, eating disorders can be treated successfully with a
combination of ongoing medical care and monitoring, psychotherapy,
nutritional counseling, and often, medication. Medical monitoring helps to
correct and prevent some of the potentially dangerous complications of eating
disorders, for example, bone density loss or disturbances in the heart's
rhythm. Psychotherapy offers strategies aimed at recognizing and changing
maladaptive behaviors associated with eating disorders; it also identifies
and addresses the psychological stressors in interpersonal and family
relationships, major losses, and traumatic events that may have lead to
development of an eating disorder. Nutritional counseling assists with
developing a reasonable, tolerable plan for eating and supports following it
consistently. Finally, several different kinds of medications can be helpful
in readjusting the brain chemistry that may be in part responsible for the
eating disorder. Newer types of antidepressants have improved safety and
tolerability and can yield sustained relief from eating disorder symptoms.

The above is a compilation of information about compulsive eating from
various organizations dealing with this disorder including Harvard Eating
Disorders Center, Something Fishy, National Center for Overcoming Overeating,
Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention and The
Renfrew Center.